Need a New Resaw Blade

[James Jayko]

I think there are two schools of thought here. Either spend $150-200 on a Resaw King or Wood Slicer (or pick your favorite carbide toothed high end blade), or buy 3-4 Timberwolf or comparable blades and just replace it when it stops performing well. What matters is that its sharp, and if you don't resaw often, its probably feels more economical to just buy a new, sharp, cheaper blade when you need it. Probably more expensive in the long run, but its six of one, half a dozen of another I think.

Sharp is what matters. If a brand new $50 blade for a particular resaw project is the most economical way to do that, do it.

[Cameron Wood]

I think there are two schools of thought here. Either spend $150-200 on a Resaw King or Wood Slicer (or pick your favorite carbide toothed high end blade), or buy 3-4 Timberwolf or comparable blades and just replace it when it stops performing well. What matters is that its sharp, and if you don't resaw often, its probably feels more economical to just buy a new, sharp, cheaper blade when you need it. Probably more expensive in the long run, but its six of one, half a dozen of another I think.

Sharp is what matters. If a brand new $50 blade for a particular resaw project is the most economical way to do that, do it.

What about set, and kerf width? Some blades are sharp- they cut fast but leave a rough surface and a fat kerf.

[Jimmy Harris]

What about set, and kerf width? Some blades are sharp- they cut fast but leave a rough surface and a fat kerf.

It depends on what you're cutting. If you're resawing expensive veneer, then kerf absolutely matters. And you probably want a smooth surface to minimize flattening and smoothing afterwards, because smoothing thin veneer can be hard. But if you're resawing boards in half for drawers or whatever, then it probably matters a whole lot less.

Even good bandsaw blades tend to give a bit too rough of a surface to call it finished, in my opinion. So I don't much worry about a rough surface because I'm going to be planing it afterwards anyway. And a wider kerf blade does tend to cut straighter on longer boards, just because it can recover from deflection easier. There's more wiggle room in the cut for the blade to get back on track, should it veer off slightly. And I don't really mess with veneer or super expensive exotics so saving fractions of an inch doesn't do me anything. But I do only have one bandsaw, so having a resaw blade that can also do long rips and gentle curves is a plus to me, so I don't have to change blades as often. So a wider kerf is actually an advantage to me. But it won't be to everyone.

But regardless of what your cutting, sharp always matters. Unless you're trying to burn wood with a dull blade, which I don't know why you would, I can't think of a reason where sharpness wouldn't matter.

[Cameron Wood]

It depends on what you're cutting. If you're resawing expensive veneer, then kerf absolutely matters. And you probably want a smooth surface to minimize flattening and smoothing afterwards, because smoothing thin veneer can be hard. But if you're resawing boards in half for drawers or whatever, then it probably matters a whole lot less.

Even good bandsaw blades tend to give a bit too rough of a surface to call it finished, in my opinion. So I don't much worry about a rough surface because I'm going to be planing it afterwards anyway. And a wider kerf blade does tend to cut straighter on longer boards, just because it can recover from deflection easier. There's more wiggle room in the cut for the blade to get back on track, should it veer off slightly. And I don't really mess with veneer or super expensive exotics so saving fractions of an inch doesn't do me anything. But I do only have one bandsaw, so having a resaw blade that can also do long rips and gentle curves is a plus to me, so I don't have to change blades as often. So a wider kerf is actually an advantage to me. But it won't be to everyone.

But regardless of what your cutting, sharp always matters. Unless you're trying to burn wood with a dull blade, which I don't know why you would, I can't think of a reason where sharpness wouldn't matter.

Good points. I was responding to the inference that sharp is the only thing that matters ("sharp is what matters"). I'm fortunate to have two band saws, so one is set up with a wider blade, and is often used to cut tenon cheeks and other joinery, so a smooth cut is desirable.

[Edward Weber]

I knew what you were getting at Cameron.

Of course we want all of our cutting edges sharp, that's on page 4 in the book of unwritten rules.
Other than "sharp" all other blade parameters are subject to the saw and what your desired resulting cut should be.
The OP asked about resaw, lots of ways to go about it.

IMO many folks go a bit overkill as if they're maxing out the saw with every cut, when in reality it may only be 25% or less of the time that they're resawing a 12" board and a dedicated resaw blade is unwarranted.
Any blade can resaw, if you use if properly.

It's sometimes better to get a more general purpose or all around blade for the bulk of the cutting, which will usually be fine for the occasional resaw, if you don't like changing blades.